After 2,000-Word Article Accusing Pachauri Of Profiting From Climate Post, Telegraph Apologizes

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Last December, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper published a 2,000-word article accusing Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of potential financial conflicts of interest.

On Sunday, The Telegraph made an abrupt about-face, pulling the story from its Web site and apologizing to Dr. Pachauri. The occasion for the retraction was the release of an audit of Dr. Pachauri’s finances by the international accounting firm KPMG, which found that he had, in fact, made little income from his outside dealings since 2008. “No evidence was found that indicated personal fiduciary benefits accruing to Pachauri from his various advisory roles that would have led to a conflict of interest,” the audit declared, according to The Guardian newspaper.

The Telegraph apologized for creating the false impression that Dr. Pachauri had been earning millions of dollars from his consulting work, allegations that climate change skeptics seized upon to question the integrity of the United Nations climate panel he leads. The original story was broadcast around the world, and is still available widely on the Internet.

Shortly after the publication of the original Telegraph story, the Energy and Resources Institute, an Indian nonprofit that employs Dr. Pachauri, denounced the story and threatened legal action against the paper for libel if an apology was not made.

EDIT

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/a-newspaper-apologizes-to-united-nations-climate-chief/